The Winds of July

She was supposed to come by the end of June. That's what she promised her mother the day after she got on the train from Texas to North Dakota, the day before she hopped off that train and went exploring Amarillo. She never boarded that train again. Perhaps it was the weed she picked up off that shady man in that bus station, or the hazy bus ride she took with the man while "testing" it. She woke up at the transportation depot. She got the man to drive her to the station.

It wasn't the first time she got off the train for some adventure. By the time she arrived at the gates of Beata Academy, it was July 6th. She checked the time on her phone, the date on her phone, and murmured a grim "Shit..." to herself, dropping the cigarette from her mouth and crushing it with her foot by the gate. It went out in a sizzle. She walked in when it was a speckle of ash.

Her mom was supposed to meet her at the gate, but it was the end of June when those arrangements were made, and the date read six days later. She didn't know where her mom would be. Her phone hadn't have reception for the past week.

He wondered if it was just him or it really was just particularly chilly that day. The Autumn couldn't help but shoot a glance out of every window he'd walked by, admiring the gray and cloudy weather. It came out of nowhere, that was for certain. It was only two days ago they were all warm and partying out on the lake but it already seemed like the distant past. Or maybe he was just thinking about it too much?

Brooding was far from being "his thing", but there was simply too much to ignore... Frankly, it fucking sucked. His father was constantly buried in his work, his mother and brother were always busy as well for reasons he was too oblivious to understand, his aunt had been nothing but fretful for a week now he didn't quite get that either, and he couldn't walk past a single teacher without being pushed for questions about his graduation - which was something he still had to talk to his girlfriend about...

Jason felt like saying 'fuck it all' and just laying in his bed all day, but he was determined to not let it all get the best of him, planning to go to Rosebury for a warm meal or something. Anything to help him relax, really. He'd been about to walk out the front entrance when a girl had beat him to the door, swinging it open and stepping inside instead. He gave her a quick lookover, feeling she looked familiar. She had messy blonde hair and clothes that obviously hadn't been washed in some time. She'd looked like she'd had a rough travel. He'd been about to drop it and move on anyways when it finally clicked in his head who she was.

"Maisie?" He called, stepping close to her. "When the hell did you get here?"

Maisie didn't know how she recognized his voice. It was way deeper then the last time she saw him, 4 years ago in some family reunion. She was 11, he saying only a sentence or two to her. "How's school, Maisie?" "You have any plans for the summer, Maisie?" "Maisie, you know your mother doesn't want you going through your father's stuff!""Jace!" She was never the best at fake enthusiasm, at genuine warmth. Her face was like glass, her voice cracking with disappointment and a hatred for reunions. "I just got here. Do you know where my mom is?"

It looked to him like the years had hardly changed her at all, he thought, thinking back to the same reunion. Once or twice he'd heard his mother mention Maisie, saying she had all of her aunt's looks but none of her personality. He'd never met the girl's father, wondering what on earth he must've been like. "I can take a guess." The Autumn mused, turning around and walking towards the offices. "Stopping in for a visit?" He asked curious. Jace had to be one of the few people in the world who didn't mind small talk.

"Um, nooo..." She brought her hands together, touching the tips of her fingers to each other, shakily laughing with a sideways glance to whatever was behind him. "I got kicked out of school in El Paso. My mom is making me come here, since I'm old enough now..." She rubbed her arm, bracing for the incoming disappointment. She really didn't want to see him already.

The young man raised an eyebrow, glancing down at her as she looked near everywhere else in the hallways, wondering what made her seem so nervous all of a sudden. And then Maisie had made it all too clear. Jason couldn't help but laugh a bit in surprise. He was mildly imprrssed even. "How'd you manage to do that?"

The walk to the offices wasn't at all a long one. A few corner turns and they were there. Jace gave the secretary a small wave and glanced at the door with his father's name on it.

"I put the principal to sleep so I could hack the databases. I needed an A to stay in the school. I had...well, they don't really make a letter for my grade." She rubbed her arm more vigorously, halfly because of how cold it was for summer. "I told security I had put him in a sleeper hold I learned from karate. The principal said he didn't remember what happened." She only looked at the secretary, not knowing if she should give a gesture.

Jason chuckled again, shooting his cousin another glance. In all honesty, he wasn't sure why she hadn't been sent straight here years ago, although he supposed there had to be a few different reasons for it. "Bravo." The Autumn near sang, grabbing the door knob and pausing for a moment. He could hear a few voices from inside, but couldn't quite make out exactly what their saying. He'd thought about coming back later, but Miss Laine wasn't making any move to stop him, so whatever what was going on couldn't have been all that important.

He swung open the door and stepped on in, leaving it open enough for Maisie to follow.

Mrs. Meyers was on the couch, her face buried in her hands and her youngest child beside her, her face being buried in some book with a ginger cat on the cover. Mr. Wright stood behind his desk, on the phone and looking out the window, turning around a few moments after hearing the door open. He gave a small nod of acknowledgement to his son, and a far more interested glance at who was with him. "You're late." He said, muttering something into the phone before hanging up.

Maisie looked around the room she had just entered, one she ambled into freely without glancing in first. Now she was trapped. Her saddened mother was on one side, her powerful and stoic uncle on the other. Her younger sister was the only one who seemed in good spirits. She wanted to hug Serenity. It'd been a while since she last Skyped with her, even longer since they talked face-to-face

The Headmaster's eyes were swordpoints, an acupressure of pinpricks that bore into her skin. Maisie felt small. She tensed her shoulders, and looked at her feet. Damn, fuck this guy, she needed a smoke.

"Sorry, sir." She said rigidly, inadvertent in her gaze and silent in her voice.

Seren was the first to lift her gaze then, hearing an voice that seemed almost unfamiliar answer her uncle. Once she'd realized who it was, both her eyes and her smile grew wide, and she tugged excitedly on her mother's shirt. "Maisie!" She gasped, "Look, she's here! I told you she would be soon!" The young girl seemed rather proud of herself and her faith in her sister. The others in the room didn't appear to entirely agree.

Harmony finally lifted her gaze out of her hands, looking rather distressed for a moment before relief washed instantly over her. "Oh, thank Goodness." The woman was up on her feet in a heartbeat, wrapping her arms around her elder daughter and pulling her tightly close. "Where have you been? I was so worried -" She paused, catching the unmistakable scent of smoke in her clothes, and on her skin. She realized how filthy Maisie was then. The woman pulled away, catching her eyes. "What happened?"

She freed her gaze once more, coughing a little into her balled fist. "The train got delayed a few times," she said monotonously. "There were storms. I'm fine, mom, you can stop hugging me now." She could not help but feel the intense gaze of the Headmaster during the reunion, feel that her mom could smell her cigarette, a cigarette she did not have time to wash from herself via a shower.

The young girl was the only one in that room who seemed to take her words to heart. Serenity hadn't much of a clue of what was going on, and it became pretty obvious that now wasn't the most appropriate time for her to be around. Her cousin was the one to help her find her way out of the office, despite small protests.

"Delayed for six days?" The headmaster had said blandly, clearly not buying her excuse. Empathy was an interesting gift, he'd always thought. Not only could he tell how uncomfortable she was in this entire situation, he could easily see past that mask of hers as well. Lies did not easily pass him.

Harmony was skeptical as well, to say the least - though she didn't need a gift to make her so. You could call it a mother's intuition. "You've been smoking again." Was all she could say, stepping back and looking down at the girl with disappointment in her eyes.

Here we go. "So what?" She lashed bitterly at her mother, not even answering the Headmaster. She couldn't. "I've cut down all right. Can I see my sister?" Maisie had watched her leave without a word, but the sadness in her eyes was apparent from it.

The woman bit her lip, frowning at the girl, but stumped on what to do. She completely disliked how her daughter was turning out, and the way that the girl spoke to her, but she could never find the right words to say back - or at least the ones that mattered. Maybe it was unfair for her to keep her from seeing her sister, no matter what she did...

Clearly, Harm was stumped. Thankfully though, or not-so-thankfully in Maisie's case, her brother-in-law didn't seem to mind stepping in. "Hand over anything 'troublesome'." He said simply, "Then we can brief you, give you the key to your room and send you on your way."

Maisie looked at him long and hard, the first eye-contact she had made since she entered that room. Silently, she dug into her coat pocket and retrieved a pack of cigarettes, missing a few of its stock. She handed it to her uncle.